The first national international bulk carrier's green methanol refueling business has been completed at the anchorage of Guangzhou Port (as shown in the picture)

The picture shows customs officers supervising the green methanol refueling business at the anchorage on Lantau Island. Photo by Li Wanchan

On September 6th, under the supervision of Huangpu Old Port Customs under Huangpu Customs, the "Daqing 268" refueling ship went to the anchorage of Lantau Island in Guangzhou Port to refuel 1021 tons of green methanol for the international vessel "GREEN FUTURE". This is the first international bulk carrier green methanol refueling service in China, and also the first time that Guangdong Province has carried out green methanol ship to ship refueling in anchorage.

Lantau Anchorage is located near the main international navigation channel at the the Pearl River Estuary and is an important maritime operation node at the the Pearl River Estuary. Fuel refueling and replenishment can be completed at the anchorage of the main channel, making it an ideal "offshore refueling station" for large heavy-duty vessels with shallow water depth, inconvenient berthing, and transit vessels that only require refueling. Carrying out ship to ship refueling at the anchorage allows for flexible arrangement of supplies according to customer navigation plans, without the need for ships to specifically dock at the port, resulting in higher service efficiency, "said Li Guanjie, Deputy General Manager of the Bonded Business Unit of Sinopec Zhonghai Ship Fuel Supply Co., Ltd.

Green methanol, as a new type of clean fuel for ship navigation, has the characteristics of low carbon emissions, convenient storage and transportation, and good combustion performance. Previously, domestic green methanol refueling operations were mostly concentrated in the fields of container ships and roll on/roll off ships. Bulk carriers have higher requirements for the coverage density and cross regional supply stability of methanol fuel refueling points due to the wide distribution of routes, strong randomness of port calls, and large demand for single refueling. The successful completion of the 1000 ton refueling of the "Daqing 268" vessel at the anchorage on Lantau Island marks that China's green methanol fuel supply chain has the ability to serve mainstream dry bulk cargo ships, and the green fuel refueling service level of Guangzhou Port has significantly improved.

To ensure the smooth progress of this refueling operation, Huangpu Laogang Customs proactively provided advanced services, accurately matched the needs of enterprises, customized a supervision plan for anchor refueling, and grasped the schedule of refueling operations and ship dynamics in advance. They closely monitored the weather and sea conditions in the anchor area and coordinated with Guangzhou Port to arrange the operation plan reasonably. At the same time, relying on the anchorage intelligent supervision platform, combined with ship, material, and document information, remote monitoring of the entire process of refueling operations is implemented to ensure safe and standardized operations while minimizing the impact on normal business operations.

Since the official opening of the Lantau Island anchorage in December 2025, the refueling function of international navigation vessels at the Guangzhou Port anchorage has been continuously upgraded, achieving normalized and multi category development. From January to August this year, the refueling of various types of ship fuels at the anchorage of Guangzhou Port increased by over 114% year-on-year. (Pu Xuan/Text)